Fit & Sizing Recommendation
I wear a size Medium in pretty much everything, and by Leatt’s chart, I was within the range for a Medium Airflex Pro. In practice, the Medium Airflex Pros were a little loose on me, which I mostly attribute to the very light fabric that Leatt uses. The upside of that fabric is that it breathes really well, but it also means that it’s less able to maintain a death grip on my leg (more on this below). If you’re between sizes, I’d recommend sizing down.
The Ride
All of my time in the Airflex Pro was spent well into the fall season in Montana, which is to say that it wasn’t particularly warm out. This means that the ventilation offered by the pads was somewhat lost on me. In fact, there were a few chilly rides where I was wishing they would actually ventilate less. But having worn them back to back with some other options (notably the G-Form Pro-X), the Airflex Pro is noticeably draftier. For hot weather riding, I think they’ll be tough to beat.
The pad has silicone grippers at the kneecap, as well as at the top and bottom cuffs. This, along with the contoured shape of the primary pad, helps everything stay in place pretty well. While pedaling, even though the pads were a bit on the loose side, I didn’t have any noteworthy issues with them shifting around. I did a few ~15 mile rides with plenty of pedaling (and descending), and aside from some minor adjustments from time to time, they stayed put quite well.
But I was always worried that the loose-ish fit would mean that the pad would shift during a crash. Fortunately for me (but unfortunately for you) I never accidentally crashed while wearing the Air Pros, but I did throw myself at the ground a couple times in the name of science. The pads stayed put better than I was expecting, which I largely credit to the shape of the pad. I do think, however, that during a more violent tumble they might shift around a bit—though the same can probably be said for most pads on the market.
I didn’t notice any irritating seams on the inside, and the pads were pretty comfortable throughout my time in them. The only thing I’d change would be to get rid of the tags: the G-Forms have printed tags, which I appreciate just because they’re not scratchy. Of course, a pair of scissors fixes that easily enough.
Bottom Line
Pads like the Airflex Pro are really attractive to me. I go on many rides where a bit of padding is certainly a good idea, but most pads are uncomfortable, and so I leave them at home. The Leatt Airflex Pro changes that dynamic — they’re comfortable to wear, they vent really well, and as long as it’s not really hot out, they substantially reduce the downsides of wearing pads.
Of course, they don’t offer the protection that you get from a bigger, more DH-oriented pad, but those sort of pads are fairly terrible when there’s much pedaling involved. In the category of minimalist pads, I’d say the Airflex Pro is at the top of the pack when it comes to venting. They also score high marks in the size of the protection offered—the padding covers more real estate than most other comparable pads.
So if you’re in the market for some light-duty knee pads, and particularly if you ride in hotter climates or overheat easily, the Airflex Pro is the most ventilated knee pads I’ve used.
Leatt AirFlex Elbow Pads
Size: Medium
MSRP: $59.00
Intended Use: Lightweight protection with maximum ventilation
Test Location: Whitefish, MT
Test Duration: About 5 rides
In most respects, the Airflex elbow pads are very similar to the knee guards. The construction and certifications are, in large part, identical. The main exception to that statement is that there isn’t a “Pro” version of the elbow guards, which means that they don’t have any additional padding around the perimeter. The only pad is the main chunk of Armourgel.
Fit
The main pad is slightly smaller on the elbow guard, and the sleeve is, of course, slimmed down a bit to fit an arm. In fact, while I found the Medium knee pad to be a little on the loose side for me, the fit on the Medium elbow pad seemed about right. It stayed put, and didn’t shift around while riding or during one of my contrived crashes.
My arms are probably on the small side of what one might call a Medium, so given the stretchiness of the material, I’d say the elbow pads fit true to size.
Bottom Line
Pretty much everything I said regarding the knee pads holds true for the elbow pads, so I won’t re-hash it here. I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of elbow pads, but despite my predilections against them, once I started riding, I really didn’t notice the Airflex pads at all. And that’s pretty much the highest compliment I can give them. If you’re in the market for some elbow pads and you don’t want to deal with the discomfort or restrictions of a bulkier pad, the Airflex should most definitely be on your list.